Wordsmithing

I’m just going to take a slight aside from the usual UX content and wax lyrical about words. It’s interesting how with every new life-style revolution a plethora of new words are invented to describe new world terms because the old-world syntax and etymology is no longer sufficient.
The atom-world markets are straining under the pressures of the credit crunch, yet judging by the gazillion articles I read or presentations I attend that evangelise about emerging trends, it seems there is a boundless energy and a relentless stream of new ideas for improving your real and second life, online. And with this information revolution a new vocabulary is born.
We’re all familiar with Google and how it’s a brand, verb, noun and adjective all at once, but I thought I’d share this short collection of words and phrases that I’ve come across this last two weeks:
• Digital Native – someone born AI (after internet)
• Digi-audience – a bit lame but you get the gist
• Crowd Clout – folks get together to negotiate discount or apply pressure
• Meetups – atom-world get togethers by online groupies
• Meatspace – real world
• Atom (prefix) – something real-worldy
• Infophrenics – data junkies
• Sofademics - exceeds the couch potato, they’re pop-culture junkies
• Sponges – absorb but don’t contribute to UGC
• Digital Consumer Activists – these guys got bored with Fantasy Football, they bought a real team!
• Attention Economics - it's all about your eyeballs baby

So then back to UX, what interesting challenges will arise when designing for the digital native? How can we get better, smarter, bigger and quicker in the ways that we talk to and collaborate with our digi-audience? I’d be interested in your thoughts…